Delhi Liquor Policy 'Scam': Court Rejects Manish Sisodia's Bail Plea In ED Case

A Delhi court on Friday delivered its order on the bail application of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case.

File Photo of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia ( Image Source :PTI )

A Delhi court on Friday rejected the bail application of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam. Manish Sisodia, who was arrested by ED in the case on March 9, will approach the Delhi High Court challenging the order.

Sisodia is currently under judicial custody in the cases registered by CBI and ED.

Special Judge M K Nagpal had reserved the order after hearing arguments on Sisodia's plea seeking relief, claiming that his custody was no longer required for probe. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed the application contending that the probe was at a "crucial" stage and claiming the senior AAP leader had planted fabricated e-mails to show there was public approval for the policy.

The central agency had also claimed that it found fresh evidence of his complicity in the alleged crime.

The court had on March 31 dismissed Sisodia's bail application in a corruption case, being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), saying he was "prima facie the architect" in the criminal conspiracy behind alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.

The court had observed that the release of Sisodia, at the moment, will "adversely affect the ongoing investigation".

The CBI and the ED had arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and for laundering the money so generated.

Delhi Liquor Policy Case: Manish Sisodia Named For First Time In CBI Chargesheet

Earlier this week, Manish Sisodia was named for the first time as an accused in a chargesheet filed by CBI in the Delhi liquor policy case. The supplementary chargesheet filed in the case on Tuesday also names Butchi Babu, auditor of Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, Arjun Pandey and liquor trader Amandeep Dhal.

In addition to provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the CBI has invoked IPC 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201, and 420.

The CBI stated in its charge sheet that the investigation is ongoing to probe the larger conspiracy and the role of the other accused in the case.

The first chargesheet was submitted by the CBI on November 25, 2022.

The AAP has vigorously refuted the claim that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-2022 to grant licenses to liquor traders favored certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it. Later, the policy was scrapped.